1954-S Toned Franklin Half – Guess its grade before submittal to PCGS

I see a 65+/66 with a toning bump, so I'll lean towards 66. The toning appears to be natural, mint-set-developed toning, but sometimes the patterns are tricky, making them look similar to toning patterns that can be created artificially, and PCGS holders 'em "Genuine" because they don't know any better! So, we'll see what the the "pros" have to say........

Can't wait to hear the results! :thumb:

-Brian

 

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What's been done to other coins really has no bearing on what might happen to the OP's coin, now does it?

However, since we're discussing a TPG, which CAC is not, I would think it would be more informative to post a link from a TPG source, instead of a service company that makes their money from agreeing or disagreeing with the subjective grade from the TPG.

How many slabs with the CAC beans on them have a premium in the asking price BECAUSE of the CAC sticker on the slab? It's nothing more than marketing and justifying adding more to the price when in reality the coin is truly only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

 

It absolutely does and shows that TPGs WILL give the designation to some coins with line hits... an established precedent. Again and just to be clear, I've never said the OP's coin will FBL, but for you to steadfastly say it will not because of something you read on a website is ridiculous.

You got me there.. guess Ill rot in the ninth circle of Dante's Inferno for my unforgivable sin of suggesting a quality online reference to someone who may have found it useful.

"The coin is truly only worth what someone is willing to pay for it".. the same can be said for TPG slabs, raw coins, basement slabs, or anything else, so what is your point? Did it ever occur to you that the a bean represents something and is MARKET ACCEPTED regardless of what you want to think? The "asking price" premiums are not coming out of left field somewhere.. they are in response to achieved prices and is not just a sticker on a coin or marketing tool for the evil slabbed coin sellers. Maybe if the TPGs started designating A, B, and C coins there would be less of a market or niche for CAC. Plus, we've already established that TPG's make mistakes, so what is wrong with an industry accepted second opinion?

Do you realize that CAC presently does not charge for coins submitted by "collector members" unless they sticker? Since time is money, would it not go to reason that this policy would be bad for business considering CAC is nothing more than a marketing ploy? Sounds more like you have a personal bias against CAC that anything else.

 

I don't know anything about grading Franklins, but it is a pretty coin. The only thing I see is the eagle on the back is very "soft". Is this from die polishing?

 

Hi Pacecar,

When I was looking at the picture I thought the same thing but it's not as soft as the picture shows. The glare from the coin washes the detail out and there are details of the feathers. I agree that they are not as sahrp as other examples in other years but it's really hard to tell by photos as I'm finding out.

 

Looks like a nice 66 to me, having a hard time seeing the bell lines so I couldn't speak to that.

 

Nice coin!!!! It definitely cannot be a 64, and a 66 shouldn't be surprising.

On the topic of FBLs, luckily you have a good chance since PCGS will it, as they only require the bottom lines
The toning will likely be okay, there is little chance that it will grade Genuine
Strike is okay, but not great, however, the 1954-S is known to have a weaker-than-average strike.

My opinion of grade: MS65+/MS66 FBL
Value: $300 to $500???

 

My guess: PCGS 66....and a 67 would not surprise me.

That's a heck of a coin, by the way...and I can see why you thought it was special!

 

I would guess MS64 but with the way PCGS has been looking at toning I would hope they won't say its AT. It does look pretty though.

 

I have little or no faith in the gradeing of coins useing the human eyes.
You could place 100 coins in a bag for these guys to grade and when the last coin was graded start the same bag over and
watch how many would get a new either lower or higher grade.
The very fact you can use a different gradeing company to get a coin a higher grade shows that its useless for slab coins to hold any more value than a coin i have raw in my collection.
Being human is natural we make mistakes and see things in a different way each time we see it more likely if you are seeing coins 8 hrs a day.
When you can crackout a coin and get it regraded and it gets a higher grade than before that alone should tell you that the grade you just got was due to how someone else sees the same coin.
I see it as a waste of time and money.

 

I would't worry about it. If we weren't arguing about your coin, we would simply argue about something else. My only advice to you since you are new to the forum and don't know the members who are responding is to ask a little about their experience grading the Franklin Half series.

I will tell you that my experience with this series is limited to mostly low grade raw BU coins for an album collection. I also own a 1958 NGC MS67* for my type set. That means my experience is limited. Having said that, I would grade the coin MS66. Good Luck with the TPG grade.

 

These coins have been packed in a box in a coin album for the last 20 years in my parents attic (trust me I flipped when I heard that). They were supposed to been given to me back then when my grandmother died but my parents squirreled them away.

I don't blame anyone for questioning them but if they mark these as ungradable due to questionable toning I'm going to be pretty upset knowing their true origin. Unless my grandmother was a master coin doctor many years ago lol.

There were others in there that were black and some that are all purple with other colors that really make me wish I got a hold of these sooner. Some are very unique especially some of the quarters. The ones that are pristine were packed in pill bottles with tissue layered between them. It's been a real joy looking at those.

Like I said before, I don't blame anyone for questioning any coin that has toning as I find some of them hideous to look at but to each his own.

 

Looks like a 66 to me. I think it has a good chance of getting FBL. QT is always possible. They have no way of knowing the true origin. Any toning that is not the normal could be questioned. I love the coin.

 

Looks like a classic MS66

 

I've come to the decision that no matter which way the grading goes I'll still have this as something to remember her by. Not a huge fan of toned coins but when I look at this I find great beauty in it. I love the way the blue starts evenly from the top and gets wider towards the bottom so evenly and symmetrical and the way it shimmers in the light.

Fairly new to the coin world with the exception of when I was much younger hunting change for wheat cents and silver. But now I think I have found a new love in coins and see why so many of you are so passionate about this hobby or some may say passion.

 

Coin collecting is very passionate for many, especially old timers like myself who see coins as a hobby and not a way for quickly flipping for a profit.

The Franklin series is a very popular series among many collectors, myself included, and was the first series I began collecting as a teenager. That was 35 years ago. As I said, there is much I can't see on your coin because of the amount of glare in the photos. In hand would be much better for myself, or anyone else on this or other forums to make a better opinion on everything. But we work with what we have. I was not trying to discourage you from submitting this half, and quite possibly, PCGS may designate the FBL, but then again, the mark I've discussed may prevent it from getting an FBL. It's a crap shoot really. Hopefully it works out for you as the FBL can add a nice premium to the value if it comes in over 64 or 65.

Good luck with it, and post the results when you get it back. I'm sure everyone would be interested in knowing what PCGS put on the label.

 

I hold no grudge over what has been discussed because I have learned something by this. Everyone sees beauty in things differently and I can't argue with that any day. I'm a newbie and seeking knowledge to make myself better and all I can do is thank everyone of you that contributed to this no matter how small or controversial it was.

I do have a wish and that is that this gets graded and listed somewhere as an example (good example) as I think my grandmother looking down would be proud to see. If for some reason it doesn't I have something of hers that I feel is a beautiful keepsake of hers.

 

Irrespective of how it turns out with PCGS, what you have is a sentimental memory of your grandmother, which is priceless whatever is on the label.

Be sure to let us know when you get it back.

 

65 maybe 66- just a beauty

 

Hello

These are some of the toughest coins to grade because of the lack of details in the design and the whiteness of the coin. I believe this is an MS66 with a possible full bell, but I can be entirely wrong. With Franklins, it is very difficult to grade without having them in hand.

Amanda